Office of Health Disparities Reduction Website

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Gov Herbert Reminds Eligible Utah Families to Apply for CHIP

2015 data ranked Utah as worst in the nation for the percentage of uninsured Hispanic children. The data shows that one in six Hispanic children do not have health insurance.

As a result, Take Care Utah is working with Governor Gary Herbert’s office to bring attention and resources to address this gap. The latest effort occurred this week when the Governor released a special video (English) (Spanish) to address the issue, acknowledging that “too many of our kids are uninsured, even though they qualify for CHIP” and encourages them to “get free and confidential help” by calling Take Care Utah at 2-1-1. We are asking you to help spread the word by sharing this video either through Facebook, email list serve, or otherwise.

CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, was created in 1997 by Sen. Ted Kennedy and Utah’s own Sen. Orrin Hatch. This joint state and federal program provides coverage to eligible children with a household income up to 200% FPL or approximately $48,600 per year for a family of four.

Take Care Utah (TCU) is the Utah-based enrollment expert for healthcare.gov, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), CHIP, and Medicaid. TCU is a network of nonprofit organizations and individuals across the state of Utah focused on helping people access health insurance coverage.

Take Care Utah’s 100+ trained navigators and application counselors are located all across Utah and offer outreach and enrollment assistance to Utah residents across the state free of charge. Most Utah navigators and applications counselors are based in health clinics, hospitals, nonprofit organizations, schools, libraries, and insurance brokerages. Over the last few years TCU’s affiliates have helped over 450,000 Utahns to better understand their new insurance options. You can locate your nearest Take Care Utah assistor by going to www.takecareutah.org, or by calling 2-1-1 from anywhere in the state.